"Choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life"- Confucius I recently heard someone share this. It made me begin to think about what I do. Immediately I thought to myself, I love my job. Then I thought about the many hours that I put in for my job and the fatigue that often follows. I would definitely say that while I love my job, it is a lot of work. So I pondered this quote a little longer and considered all of the reasons I love my job. I have to say, I

We hear the word community used quite frequently these days. But what does community really mean? Growing up I always thought community was referring to an area people lived in. A neighborhood filled with families. Since then I have learned that a community can be an education community, military community, medical community, church community, or social media community just to name a few. Community isn't just a place you live. A community is a group of like minded people or p

The face of hunger is often ignored, labeled and judged. Because of the nature of my job, I've learned a lot of about hunger. Each week we host our mobile pantry I see the face of hunger. What I see are people just like me. People don't choose to be hungry. I don't know anyone who says "I want to be hungry when I grow up". But it happens and it happens everyday. After sitting in a press conference at the Forgotten Harvest warehouse in Oakpark, Michigan, talking with agencies

By definition the word give means to freely transfer the possession of something to someone; to bestow (love, affection, or other emotional support); communicate or impart (a message) to (someone); freely devote, set aside, or sacrifice for a purpose; It's a verb, which means an action is required to complete it. Growing up in homes and now living in a house that has neighbors close by, I have learned a balance of giving and receiving. Many times my neighbor and I will call e

"If a friendship lasts longer than 7 years, psychologists say it will last a lifetime."- Author Unknown. This statement leads me to believe that many friendships never make it past the 7 year mark. How sad to think that a friendship would just end. Friendships just like any relationship take time, patience, energy, forgiveness, grace, resources, imagination, and many many prayers. I am incredibly blessed to have 3 best friends or forever friends as we like to say. These incre

We always hope our children will grow up to be kind, and loving adults. As a mom of three children, I can tell you that every child is different and has their own personality traits. I have learned regardless of each individual personality, serving others can be taught. As parents we need to set the example. I am the first to admit, I am not perfect. In fact I'm extremely imperfect. I make mistakes, say the wrong things and can sometimes be selfish. But I love hard, forgive

Yesterday I spent the day decorating Minion shaped sugar cookies. Every time I make sugar cookies I think of my childhood. My mom has always had a special super power of making me feel like I was the most important person in her life at that moment. She would set me on the counter top and we would create something sweet in the kitchen. I always thought she made up these recipes with her super powers. Imagine how surprised I was to find out that our beloved sugar cookies and m

I scrolled through Facebook this morning only to stop at a post from a dear friend of mine who has been an educator in our local school district for more that 30 years. It was obvious she was heartbroken, frustrated and angry. The school district was set to fall under state control. In her comments was a quote from an article about the issue. "East Detroit Public Schools has a poverty level of 86 percent, and more than 30 percent of its students come from Detroit Public Sc

Tomorrow is Monday and just like so many others, my alarm will ring ridiculously early. I will get up and get ready for work. Except my office isn't a traditional office on Monday's. It's pantry day. A semi truck from Forgotten Harvest will deliver any where from 20,000 to 30,000 lbs. of food to pass out to our guests. We have an average of about 275 - 300 families weekly. I have the honor of working with about 30 volunteers who arrive smiling and excited to serve. The major